I am back...with fresh kleenex and a good night's rest. I left off yesterday with the escorts arrival. Let me tell you a little back story about the escorts. Scott was the initial escort, the one who was planning on taking Annette to the dance...well then others wanted "in" on the date. Technically each guest was only allowed one escort/buddy to the dance. I didn't like that so much so I asked my friend Beth if there was any way around that "rule". No one wanted to miss it. She said she would see what she could do. Jack and Max were ruled out due to age, you had to be 16 to go to the prom. That left Drew and Tommy....well Drew has always had a real passion for those with special needs, he serves with me at church in the Hand in Hand classroom, he has a friend at school that relies on him...so Drew won that. Tommy was relegated to driver, babysitter for the evening.
And one more side note...Annette chose the ties Drew and Scott both wore. She had several to choose from for each of them and she knew exactly which ones she wanted them to wear.
After the boys arrived to get the lovely Queen we headed towards the limousine pick up area. This was exciting. We had been talking a LOT about this. We initially were told at training that each guest would have their own limo ride. That was not the case. But....alas...I had "volunteered" to take photos of a guest in a limo for the church. That was a requirement from the Tim Tebow Foundation...somebody has to do it. Guess it might as well be me. We walked to the doors and saw 2 "limo" busses...and then we saw it. A stretch white hummer limousine....Annette's mouth dropped. "That's the one Susan. That one is for me." and before anyone could ask any more questions we beelined it to the limo...just our family. Jack and Max were still along as they had been at church watching Annette get ready...I missed snapping photos of them with the Queen. ugh.
Annette's first limo ride. She loved it. Scott spent much of the ride wiping tears from his eyes as she oooed and awed over every detail.
Then we arrived...the event was held at the community center, which is across the street from our church...but the limo took the long way around a few miles stretch to get us there. And then the doors opened...and the Queen stepped onto the red carpet. The paparazzi was there cheering, flashes were going and Annette was SHINING. She was so excited she nearly left her escorts behind in the dust. It was cold...and that didn't matter to anyone outside. The cheering and the smiles were contagious.
And then....after some time to mingle and chat it was time for the Grand March. Annette had talked with me about the Grand March. She knew what it was and she knew she had never been a part of one...I couldn't sneak in for photos. I was volunteering to snap the official red carpet photos. (part of my ploy to have an "inside" view of the evening and I really did LOVE capturing all of the guests and having the privilege of telling them how beautiful and handsome they were) Thankfully I have friends who take photos and captured these for me.
And one more side note...Annette chose the ties Drew and Scott both wore. She had several to choose from for each of them and she knew exactly which ones she wanted them to wear.
After the boys arrived to get the lovely Queen we headed towards the limousine pick up area. This was exciting. We had been talking a LOT about this. We initially were told at training that each guest would have their own limo ride. That was not the case. But....alas...I had "volunteered" to take photos of a guest in a limo for the church. That was a requirement from the Tim Tebow Foundation...somebody has to do it. Guess it might as well be me. We walked to the doors and saw 2 "limo" busses...and then we saw it. A stretch white hummer limousine....Annette's mouth dropped. "That's the one Susan. That one is for me." and before anyone could ask any more questions we beelined it to the limo...just our family. Jack and Max were still along as they had been at church watching Annette get ready...I missed snapping photos of them with the Queen. ugh.
Annette's first limo ride. She loved it. Scott spent much of the ride wiping tears from his eyes as she oooed and awed over every detail.
Then we arrived...the event was held at the community center, which is across the street from our church...but the limo took the long way around a few miles stretch to get us there. And then the doors opened...and the Queen stepped onto the red carpet. The paparazzi was there cheering, flashes were going and Annette was SHINING. She was so excited she nearly left her escorts behind in the dust. It was cold...and that didn't matter to anyone outside. The cheering and the smiles were contagious.
From there they went for their official red carpet photos...taken by yours truly.
"And announcing the arrival of Queen Annette"
And onto the dinner and dance...and a message from Tim Tebow himself where he said via video
"It is my honor right now to name every single one of you the Queen or King of the Prom. But guys more importantly than that, that's how God looks at you every single day of your life. That's how important you are, that is how special you are and that is how very much YOU are loved. "
and then...the music began and in Scott's words "It was like everyone was shot out of a cannon. Not one person was sitting." He was right. Every single person was out there dancing, some in wheelchairs, some with no sight, some with no hearing...it didn't matter. It didn't matter if you had rhythm or not. It didn't matter if you could dance....it was pure joy on that dance floor. They had to push tables away to make the dance floor even bigger than it already was...and every single buddy/escort was out dancing too. Scott and Drew were out dancing. Scott does not dance but for Annette you bet he was dancing. I think Annette sat for one dance. One and that was because she was thirsty. It didn't last long and we were all back on the floor with her.
At some point I snuck away to get a tiara for myself so we could re pose our childhood photo with a much improved tiara...this beats the aluminum foil one Aunt Sandy made for us during our Miss Edina/Miss Arlington Pageant in the late 1970's.
To be honest Annette wasn't so sure when I came back with a crown...she let it be known that I was NOT a Prom Queen tonight. That I was just her cousin wearing a tiara...fine by me. We danced the night away...I tried hard not to sob as I watched her shining.
We shut the place down...and ended the night with a photo of Queen Annette in her thrown. And I may note that she has added a blue silk wrist corsage in the past hour. She was offered one earlier in the night but she chose to only wear the real one Scott had given to her...but as the night went on she told Scott she decided she wanted both. And she wanted a blue one. So leave it to Scott...to go on a mission to find the remaining corsages left. He even sent his friend Frank back over to the church to search high and low and NOT to come back without a blue corsage. And whatever the Queens wishes are...we make them happen.
This was a Night to SHINE...it was all about Annette! It was all about the 249 other guests our church had invited. There was NOT a person in that space that was not smiling. There was NOT a person that did not feel blessed. It was the MOST UNBELIEVABLE evening...there was SUCH a feeling of GOD and such a feeling of HIS unconditional love. The majority of the guests had buddies/escorts they had never met before and you wouldn't not have known that. They poured themselves into making this night be perfect! This event has been prayed over for months and God showed up in a BIG way.
...part 3 coming soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment